Seòmar agus comataidhean

Following the appointment of the First Minister and formation of government in March 2023, 12 Ministers accepted a government issued mobile device. Please see the following list.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes incidence and mortality data on leukaemias, Hodgkin lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma annually.

PHS previously published survival data on these same cancers. However in the 2023 release, a different approach was taken to assess the short-term impact of COVID-19 on cancer survival for a select few cancers. It utilised a much smaller cohort than the usual methodology which meant an estimate of survival for rarer cancers could not be calculated. Some estimates for blood cancers are available for the 2016-2020 cohort upon request to PHS.

In future cancer survival publications, these same blood cancers will be included again, as survival publications will revert back to previous methodology.

The Scottish Government considers the definition of invasive non-native species to be that provided in the GB Invasive Non-Native Species Strategy and that this does indeed align with the definition given by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The Strategy defines an invasive non-native species as any non-native species that has been intentionally or unintentionally introduced outside its native range by human actions and which has the ability to spread causing damage to the environment, the economy, our health, or the way we live.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. This is a matter for individual health boards who are responsible for providing healthcare in prisons and police custody suites.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22760 on 14 November 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to introduce such a register. We are working with Local Authorities, Health Boards and other public sector partners to understand the extent to which RAAC is present in buildings and any actions necessary in response.

We are jointly funding a £250,000 endometriosis research project with the charity Wellbeing of Women. The research project, which will primarily be run by researchers at The University of Edinburgh, will look at the drug dichloroacetate in the management of endometriosis-associated pain.

Additionally, in January 2023 our Chief Scientist Office announced funding for the ENDOCAN project, led by researchers at The University of Edinburgh. Through a large scale UK-wide trial, the research will investigate whether a cannabinoid can reduce endometriosis-associated pain. Funding of £299,509 has been committed to this 30 month project.

The Chief Scientist Office also invited applications to the Applied Health Research Programmes Funding in March this year. Applicants will be informed of the outcome in December 2023.

The Scottish Cancer Registry does not capture whether a cancer was detected following presentation at an Accident & Emergency (A&E) department. The details in the Scottish Cancer Registry and the lack of clinical information included in the A&E attendance data leaves the relationship between cancer diagnosis and A&E attendance uncertain.

Public Health Scotland completed a study to describe emergency and non-emergency routes to cancer diagnosis in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. A decision on whether to include an expanded list of cancers in the emergency vs. non-emergency routes to cancer diagnosis reporting will be made ahead of a planned publication in March 2024. However, this would be using the emergency/non-emergency definitions and so presentation at A&E would not specifically be defined as a route to diagnosis.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22759 on 14 November 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

I have not had any discussions with ministerial colleagues regarding the potential impact of the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill on the Scottish Government's international development work.